GENERAL HOSPITAL Cliffhanger Friday: Brilliant! (West Coast Spoilers)

GENERAL HOSPITAL has been at the top of its game lately and Friday was a prime example. What a great cliffhanger! There are SPOILERS (and pictures) below so please don't read if you haven't watched yet. Enjoy the episode first and then come back and share your thoughts.

Friday was just about perfect for me as a viewer with the exception of the Connie hearing that seemed to drag on and on. I have to admit this is the least favorite part of GH for me these days even though I enjoy so many of the actors involved. As for the rest of the show: heaven.

Carly was determined to find out the truth about A.J. and came face to face with him again. Tracy was still being held "hostage" while Monica figured out how to keep her quiet. Lulu and Dante's adoption worker was really mean but I was invested because I felt for them (just hoping no more baby switching/stealing is on the horizon). But the best part was Robin and Duke. Or whoever Duke is.

With a perfect use of flashbacks Robin (Kimberly McCullough) figured out that Duke (Ian Buchanan) didn't know things the real Duke would have known. Once she tipped her hand to "Duke," he began removing a mask from his face revealing his true identity to her (not viewers).

Faison (Anders Hove)? Could it be anyone else? Whatever the outcome next week, Friday had that old school "can't wait until Monday" feel. Thank you, GENERAL HOSPITAL.

^^ Also, I assume Kimberly McCullough hasn't taped many episodes so her being on to "Duke" has been been expedited. I am glad the story is moving. "Duke's" return has been troubling for me because he was so obviously an imposter (Anna has looked silly hand-wringing over "Duke" & Luke!) Today's episode felt like great old school soap opera and I devoured it! Kudos GH!

Fasion is the best bet, still thinking it over? However he or she wants control of Sonny's empire! I'm finally stumped by a soap wow! Could it be a Cassidine, that would be perfect for Luke hmmmm! Great job #GH!I'm impressed

Fasion is the best bet, still thinking it over? However he or she wants control of Sonny's empire! I'm finally stumped by a soap wow! Could it be a Cassidine, that would be perfect for Luke hmmmm! Great job #GH!I'm impressed

I've been spoiler-free since I was a kid in the 80's (pre-internet days!) I try as much as possible to avoid anything coming up in story and every one I know, knows not to spill what they know as it directly relates to story. Somethings are unavoidable, like the exit of a popular character but I avoid any information on the exit story if I am really invested.

I appreciate sites like WLS which state in the title of an article "Spoilers" versus titling article's with the actual spoiler (many sites do!) I enjoy TVGuide's Michael Logan but his articles often state the spoiler in the title, so I read his work sporadically.

I also avoid the soap publications (which is easy because there are so few.) I generally record soaps and binge-view late at night or weekends. During the week, I can check out this site for the "Today In Soaps" articles which I adore. Roger -- you and the crew here do great work and I know it's a labor of love!

Also, I am very critical of Ron Carvialti's work as a headwriter because it's not my preferred brand of drama but he most definitely delivers surprises. The last six months of OLTL were filled with surprises (Matthew's "death" on Thanksgiving was splendidly done, Cole's "death in the final week, Ford's actual death, Victor Jr.'s reveal, etc.)

With GH, I was truly surprised when Robin was revealed to be alive. Right now, GH is the only soap capable of truly surprising it's viewers and the creative team deserves all the credit.

the mask was creepy and this Faison story is literally 22 years old with the original actors. (a rarity in soaps these days) so it is awesome. My hope that the real Duke is alive somewhere, the scenes with Anna have been sweet.

Roger, I can always count on you and your site to be as enthusiastic as I am about my 'stories'. :)

Started watching GH again last Feb when Ron and Frank took over - wasn't completely sold until May when they brought Tea on (one of my favorites). Haven't missed a day yet. Am glad that the creative team decided to hold off on leaking spoilers.. this past week was GREAT but made that much better with the sudden appearance of Alan, so much Robin and the Duke/Mask development on Friday. When you don't know what's coming, you watch every day because, with this regime, every day is "anything can happen" day. (this was also true of their reign on OLTL which is why I was such a huge fan of them there too).

But the highlight of the week was the Michael/Carly conversation about AJ. Laura Wright is truly amazing.. the amount of hate/desperation/hurt she put into her Carly when being confronted by her son about setting AJ up all those years ago, was incredible. Carly, the character is still full of (xxxx), but LW sells it so well. :)

Will, Laura has been so fabulous this week. I'm loving all this history being examined again.

MK, there could be two Dukes at some point (just speculating). That mask was awesome. I remember the Salem Strangler (or one of those DAYS serial killers) using a Roman mask but I don't remember ever seeing the mask. That thing looked just like Duke!